


X-Tober 2020 - Marvel

by HeartOfStars



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Carol Danvers, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26818087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartOfStars/pseuds/HeartOfStars
Summary: All the assorted Whumptober, Angstober, and Flufftober 2020 prompts for Marvel!
Relationships: Carol Danvers & Maria Rambeau, Loki & Thor (Marvel), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Kudos: 5





	1. Day 4: Running Out Of Time/Collapsed Building

It took a few seconds for Peter to realize that Toomes had actually  _ dropped the building on top of him.  _

Then, as the pain registered along with the shock, Peter started to panic. 

_ I have to get out. I have to get out, I have to I have to-- _

_ Too much, it’s--it’s too close, I’m buried under here, I-- _

He had to do something. He had to. These people were counting on him, his friends were counting on him-- _ Mr. Stark  _ was counting on him--

He was buried under an entire warehouse. There were pounds and pounds of rubble on top of him...but he had to do it. 

With all his strength, Peter put his hands on the debris right above him and  _ pushed.  _

Nothing happened. 

The air was closing in around him, he couldn’t breathe, he  _ couldn’t breathe-- _ desperately, Peter ripped off his mask and gasped for breath. 

Then, gritting his teeth, he pushed again. 

Pain lanced through his arms; he couldn’t do it. With a shout, he collapsed back onto his face. 

No one was coming for him. 

_ No one was coming.  _

“Help!” he shouted anyway, hating the awful desperation in his voice--but there was nothing he could do about it. “HELP! Someone--someone--please--” A sob was torn from his throat, almost against his will. “I’m down here! I’m down here, I-I’m stuck, I can’t move, I CAN’T MOVE!”

He sobbed again. He wanted to scream, to do something, but--but--

No one was coming. 

_ Mr. Stark, if you’re out there, just please-- _

He didn’t know why he was even thinking it. He didn’t have the old suit; Mr. Stark would have no idea he was even in trouble anyway. 

And if he did, why would he care?

He wanted Peter to do everything himself anyway. 

“HELP!” Peter screamed one last time, then stopped. It was like...there was no air down here. He was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of...of…

Of being unable to breathe. 

_ Someone--someone please-- _

_ I have to move. I have to get out, I have to, I have to-- _

And then, miraculously, there was a sound--something he’d heard before, something--and the rubble was...it was  _ gone.  _

Air. 

Lack of weight. 

Peter drew in a desperate breath, then another, sucked in deep gulps of air no matter how much it made him want to cough; and then, slowly, he looked up. 

One of the Iron Man suits was hovering above him. 

He...he’d sent one of the other suits, at least. He  _ had  _ come for him in a way. 

“Oh,” was all he could think to say. “Thanks for...for sending one of your guys.”

“Not one of my  _ guys,  _ kid.” To Peter’s surprise, the helmet popped up, revealing the real, in-the-flesh face of Tony Stark. “It’s me.” 

“Oh.” Suddenly Peter remembered--Mr. Stark was here. Toomes was--he was going to-- “Mr. Stark, there’s something you need to know--Adrian Toomes, he’s crazy, he--he dropped this on me because he’s going to steal some of your weapons and--”

Too much dust had gathered in his throat; too much dust, and he couldn’t breathe. He broke off into intense coughing. 

Before he knew it, there was a hand on his shoulder. 

“Take a break, kid,” Mr. Stark said as the fit ended. “Take it easy.” 

“But--” he gasped. “The weapons--”

“Are safe,” Stark finished, and Peter gaped at him. “Yeah, after what happened I figured you’d still try to take care of this. Maybe you were crazy, maybe you were just a dumb kid. But maybe there was also some credence to what you were saying about this Toomes character. So I had him followed--and guess what? You were right.” Mr. Stark grinned. “He’s walking right into a trap.” 

Peter stared at him; he almost couldn’t comprehend what he was hearing. Mr. Stark...believed him? He wasn’t about to get stolen from? Toomes was going to go down? 

_ Mr. Stark believed him?  _

“No--no way,” Peter stammered, “you--”

Apparently, not all the dust was gone. Peter’s chest was wracked by coughs again. 

Mr. Stark held up a hand. 

“But first,” he said, “you need to take a break, kiddo. Come on.” 

Before Peter knew it, Mr. Stark’s arm was around his shoulders, and--no. No, they couldn’t go to his house….not to May...she was going to see him as Spider-Man--

“No,” Peter gasped, turning to look up at Mr. Stark. “No, please, I’ll just--I’ll just walk it off, Aunt May can’t see me!” 

“Whoa, whoa.” Mr. Stark stopped. “Who said we were going to your house? I mean--under any other circumstances, sure. Why would I pass up the chance to see your aunt? But, obviously--” He stepped back and waved a hand over Peter’s uniform. “She can’t see that. She’ll freak out. No, it’s fine, I’ll take you to the penthouse.” 

“The--” Peter’s words failed him. Maybe it was still the fact that he felt ready to pass out, maybe it was the dust, but he had nothing to say. “You’re gonna--you--”

The penthouse. Mr. Stark’s house, he’d never been there--

“Yeah, of course,” Stark said, like it was no big deal. “Now, you just relax, kid. Let’s go.” 

Dimly, Peter heard the face plate snap into place. Mr. Stark wrapped his arm a little further around Peter--was that a hug? Were they  _ there  _ now?--and then Peter’s feet left the ground, and they were both soaring through the air.

Maybe Peter should’ve been terrified; they were thousands of feet in the air.

But with Mr. Stark right there, he knew he wasn’t going to fall. 


	2. Day 11: Flufftober - Radiance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria ruminates on Carol's inner light.

Carol Danvers had always been radiant, long before the Kree brainwashed her and she became Earth’s guardian angel. She’d always been capable of lighting up a room, of showing all the light inside her on the outside, of literally being the most brilliant person in a group of people. 

It’s just that the only person who knew that was Maria Rambeau. 

The first time she saw it happen was when Carol, always the fighter, always determined to not just  _ pass  _ but to be the  _ best  _ pilot, was handed her diploma. On the stage, she was solemn, the perfect picture of a U.S. Air Force officer...but Maria could see the light behind the facade. She was just barely hiding it; she’d always been bad at being a stereotypical soldier, and it was what Maria loved most about her. 

And when they met afterwards for drinks, the light was obvious, written all over her face. It was in her grin as she threw her head back and laughed at the men who’d said she couldn’t do it, in her eyes as she congratulated Maria on her own successes. 

After that, Maria learned to look for it. The light wasn’t there all the time; not at first. At first, it would only become apparent when Maria was alone with her. But as she grew more confident with herself, the radiance became more frequent. When Maria finally got the money and adopted a daughter of her own, as Carol looked into Monica’s eyes, the light was there. When Maria led her first mission successfully, the light was there. When one of their male comrades ruefully admitted that Carol had done a better job than him...the light was most  _ definitely  _ there. 

Then came the final mission. 

Then Carol disappeared. 

And Maria didn’t see the light for six years. 

Maria never believed she was actually dead, as everyone seemed to say. It couldn’t be possible. Maybe it was that she refused to believe Carol was dead. Maybe it just seemed too convenient for her to be gone. But there was a part of her that  _ knew  _ Carol was still out there. Something in her would have given up otherwise. 

Everyone thought she had given up. They assumed that without the white woman to “protect” her from the racism of the other officers, she couldn’t handle it. That wasn’t the truth, obviously--she’d left to raise Monica. 

But also, without Carol, flying didn’t really have meaning anymore. 

Six years later, the miracle Maria had been waiting for happened: Carol was back. But with that came a tragedy she hadn’t even expected. 

Carol had no idea who she was. 

Whatever had happened to her, it had screwed her up bad. Someone must have gotten hold of her, gotten in her head, because she was unrecognizable. Now, she was apparently a Kree warrior who could shoot fire out of her hands. She was emotionless, stoic, determined, obedient to protocol. A perfect soldier. 

Someone Carol Danvers had never been. 

Maria tried. She tried her best to reason with her, to make her see what had happened years ago, to remember who she was. But there was nothing. The light was... _ gone.  _

The first time Maria caught a glimpse of it, of who Carol had been, was after she had been made to see the truth of who she used to be, of what she’d been doing this whole time. And Maria didn’t understand a thing about the Kree, or the Skrulls, or refugees in space. What she did know was that Carol was angry; and if Carol was angry, it meant she was herself again. Carol was angry just before she did something. 

So she told her, poured out everything about what they had been, about the woman she had known. She didn’t even know if it was going to work. 

And then the light shone through. Not nearly as strong as it used to be; it was just a tiny glimpse.

But it was there, in the eyes that shed happy tears as Carol hugged her. 

And after they were captured, after Carol was imprisoned by the Kree...Maria was the only person who wasn’t surprised when she broke out. Delighted, but not surprised. 

And then, when Carol stood up and unleashed light from her hands, as she decimated everyone who’d told her, in the last six years, what she was  _ expected  _ to do, Maria knew she’d been waiting her entire life for that moment. 

“You know you’re glowing, right?” Fury said to her. 

But of course she did. Carol Danvers was  _ radiant  _ like this; but then, she’d always been radiant. Of course she knew she was glowing, and it was why she and Maria shared a smile. 

Everyone else seemed to believe that Carol Danvers was strong because of the power inside her.

But what Maria knew was that Carol Danvers was strong because of her determination, her absolute refusal to give up even when everyone was telling her she should.  _ Because  _ everyone was telling her she should. 

Maria had known about Carol’s radiance this whole time. It had been hers, hers to cherish, because until Carol hadn’t had anyone else. But now, she supposed, she wasn’t entirely averse to sharing it with the world. Carol had earned it, after all. 

But that didn’t mean Maria didn’t miss her when she was gone. 

It didn’t mean that she didn’t feel like half of her soul had vanished into space. 

It didn’t mean that she didn’t feel lonely when she took up flying again. 

And it definitely didn’t mean that she didn’t sob for joy when she walked downstairs Christmas morning, two years later, to find Carol sitting in her kitchen, boots propped up on the table. 

She was glowing, a constant shimmer of light traveling up and down her lithe form. The inner light had made it out of her, and she was constantly showing it off. 

Carol had been places in the last two years.

But, ultimately, she was still the same person. She really  _ had  _ gotten herself back the day she came to Earth; and Maria supposed she had herself to thank for that. 

“So,” Carol said with a smirk, “you definitely didn’t expect me to be here, did you?”

“You never do what anyone expects you to do,” Maria said as she hugged her. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not happy about it.” 


End file.
